


The Chalice

by Maitimiel



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, I'm Serious, M/M, Not Like That, Not based on any real historical time, Viktor is a tramp, Yuuri is a diplomat, crossposted from tumblr, like "the lady and the tramp", no really, yoi secret valentine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-22 20:44:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9624587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maitimiel/pseuds/Maitimiel
Summary: Prince of the Crown Yuuri is concerned every person on the realm will remember his one diplomatic failure, but as it turns out, the one who does remember seems to have gotten a much different impression from that event.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so I have never actually written any AU before. I didn't want to mangle anybody's culture, so everything is made up. Let me know what you think.

It was a great thing Mari was the first in line for succession. She would, one day, be a competent, pragmatic ruler. The people liked her. She wouldn't go looking for trouble with other realms nor would she allow Hasetsu to fall from it's glory. Yes, she'd be great at it.

Also, this way, Yuuri could live a calm, peaceful life as the second son and prince of the crown without the overwhelming pressure of having to be the one responsible for everybody else's well being.

Not that he didn't care about their people's well being, it was just that there were other things he could do to serve his kingdom, things he was more competent at. 

Yuuri had travelled as far as ships could take him as an emissary, getting to know many foreign places and people, establishing both political alliances and commercial agreements, befriending a number of other princes and princesses and emissaries around the globe. His family valued his work and he was content.

Rarely did he manage to spend enough time home with his family, a fact he regretted sometimes. Just that night, though, he would prefer to stay put in his chambers than attending the feast with his parents. 

Every year, a grand feast was held, open for every resident and visitor of Hasetsu, to celebrate the Old Alliance, the agreement that had, many centuries before, ended the war between Hasetsu and the Old Realms, and started the Long Peace. Few of those realms existed nowadays, but the tradition remained, and people still came from many places to attend. On that day, noblemen and peasants shared the same food, sat at the same tables and danced to the same music. 

The only problem was that the last time Yuuri had been among such a huge amount of people, he had been utterly humiliated.

After many months of negotiation, he had travelled to great kingdom of Sochi to seal a deal that would have been highly profitable for both parts; Sochi possessed an extensive territory vastly covered by forests. Hasetsu was small and needed the wood to build more ships. They had been willing to pay highly for it, and also benefit Soch in any future commercial dealings, and things had been working out great until Yuuri ruined it. 

He had not been used to the strong, clear liquor served in the banquet that had been organized in his honor. Intoxicated with it, Yuuri had made a fool of himself, spoken without thinking, managed to offend the queen and pour his wine on the princess dress. The entire hall had laughed and mocked him, and he had sailed the very next day, deal now off the table. Ever since, he had avoided big crowds, always fearful someone around him would have been at the banquet, or heard of it.

Mari was having none of his excuses.

"Mother and Father will be disappointed if you're not there, Yuuri. And the people want to see you. You have hidden yourself in this castle long enough."

"I don't think anybody wants to see me after what happened last year," Yuuri said, staring at the sunset. 

"Of course they do," his sister said, firmly, "no one is holding that against you." She came to stand by him on the balcony. "Besides, the feast will be particularly good this year. We have many performers visiting, those singers and dancers you love."

"I've seen plenty of dancers when I was away," Yuuri mumbled, though a part of him couldn't help wondering if these dancer were any good.

"And if I remember correctly, you never minded seeing the same song being presented even a dozen of times."

He said nothing, and so she sighed and ruffled his hair, before saying in a tone that was half frustration, half concern:

"Let it go, Yuuri. Everyone else has."

Darkness fell around him as he reflected. He didn't want to disappoint everyone further. Certainly, there would be people in the feast who had witnessed the disaster of Sochi. He'd have to face them eventually. It was time.

Taking a long, deep breath, he directed himself to the baths.

* * *

Arming tables filled the the view for as far as Yuuri's eyes could reach. Traditionally, the feast was held in the port, a reminder of the first time a king of Hasetsu had shared food with a foreign captain, right there on the pier, thus sealing the first agreement of piece. The feast spread out from the port and took up most of the bay, including nearby squares and the largest streets. Everyone used their most elegant clothes and colorful accessories.

Yuuri was no exception. He wore dark charcoal velvet decorated with opals and pearls, and his sister looked beautiful in her carmine attire. Their parents shone in matching silver, like beacons among the people.

After the customary speech welcoming all to the annual Feast of Friendship was made, Yuuri felt much more relaxed. Mari had been right, it was time to move on. So far every single person that had passed him by had been respectful and friendly. If anybody was thinking of his failure, they had kept it to themselves. One of his oldest friends, Minako, sat by his side and talked to him throughout dinner, distracting him and reminding him that, although he loved the life of a traveller, home was still his favorite place to be.

A couple of hours had passed when _he_ appeared. The performers Mari had mentioned in the afternoon made a colorful, flamboyant group. They were travelling artists, traipsing from place to place with no fixed home, used to perform for both kings and farmers, seeking audience wherever they could.

There were musicians and dancers, and as they positioned themselves right in front of Yuuri's table, he saw in the middle of them a man who moved as softly and as fluidly as a column of smoke swirling in the wind. As the players told a story with their fingers, so did he illustrated it with his whole body. His eyes were closed as he danced, and his hair was as fair as molten silver falling down to his waist, a beautiful contrast to his silky purple attire, which flowed with every move of his body. When he opened his eyes, they were of the most striking blue Yuuri had ever seen. The man stared straight at Yuuri. Without breaking eye contact, he smirked and blew him a kiss. 

Yuuri's stomach sank. 

This man. Yuuri had met him before. At the banquet, at the banquet in Sochi, he had seen him dancing. All of his memories from that night were covered with fog, but there was no mistaking the sway of his hips or the blue of his eyes. 

Yuuri looked around, but he was alone. His parents had long gone to talk and mingle with the guests of the feast, and Minako was nowhere to be found. Mari still sat a couple of chairs away, but Yuuri couldn't call her attention without interrupting her conversation and calling _everyone's_ attention as well.

He felt hot in his fancy robes, glued to his chair by this stranger's mesmerizing eyes. Whenever he turned around or moved away, it was only to look right back at Yuuri a few moments later. It was hypnotizing. It was terrifying.

Who was he, why was he here? Had he come all the way to Hasetsu just to remind Yuuri of the banquete, to mock him?

Or to tempt him?

Regardless of what his intentions were, Yuuri couldn't look away. The way his body spinned, the way his arms were lifted, complementing every move, it was like nothing Yuuri had ever seen before. He almost wanted to get up and joined him, become a part of his dance, a part of his being.

Afterwards, Yuuri couldn't have told how long did the fair haired man danced for him. He would have placed his guess at at least a few eternities, but when the music ended, the feast was still taking place, people were still eating and drinking and talking merrily as if the most formidable expression of beauty hadn't just happened right in front of their eyes. The world felt somewhat _less_ now that it was over. 

Yuuri felt a short sense of relief followed by an unexplainable pang of pain when the stranger made an exaggerated bow and swiftly walked away with the rest of his group. Yuuri was still too numb to applaud when he was swallowed by the crowd. 

Other dancers came, and Minako returned, but Yuuri found he couldn't concentrate anymore. His heart pounded in his chest, and he excused himself to go for a walk.

Many people greeted him, and in his distraction, he couldn't even find it in himself to be anxious. He talked to residents and visitors, friends and people he barely knew, and Mari smiled encouraging to him when they crossed ways, but of the mysterious dancer that had him enchanted, there was no sign.

In the end, he walked to the very end of the area prepared for the feast, where the tables were mostly empty, it's occupants having gone home or moved closer to the performers. An old couple lingered around, holding hands and conversing in low tones. Yuuri greeted them, but stood aside, staring at the horizon, lost in his own thoughts.

A soft touch to his elbow startled him back into reality. Before he looked up, he knew it would be _him_. He could feel it like a fragrance in the air, like a tingle in his skin. He looked up to the man's eyes, even clearer in the moonlight, and said nothing. All tension he had felt before that moment seemed to flee his body, leaving something strange, akin to longing, in it's stead. The man in front of him had a much more solemn expression than when he had been dancing.

"I was beginning to fear you had disappeared once again," he said to Yuuri in a deep voice, soft as velvet. 

"I am right here."

"You are." The intensity with which he was being staring at should have been unsettling. Yuuri looked down to the chalice the man held close to his chest. The man raised it, uncertainty flashing in his eyes. 

"I was told that on this night, even a king shares his drink with a pirate."

His words hung between them. Yuuri considered saying he was no king. Would never be a king. He considered saying that the other man was no pirate either. But he just closed his fingers around the other's and brought the chalice to his lips, taking a long sip. Then he relaxed his grip, but didn't let go as the man took it to his own lips, eyes locked with Yuuri's. The breeze danced in his hair, and Yuuri could feel it brushing the back of his hand.

"Who are you?" Yuuri asked in a whisper, wondering if the other man could feel the warmth of his breath against his skin. 

"My name is Viktor. I have come to find you."

"Viktor." Yuuri let the name roll in his tongue, tasting it. "Why?"

He shuddered before answering.

"I saw you in Sochi. I would be content if you allowed me to stay here, and to entertain you, and to look at you."

Never had Yuuri seen anything as beautiful as the tremble of Viktor's lips as they delivered their words. Yuuri's fingers searched for those that weren't still holding the empty glass, and planted a soft kiss to the knuckles, listening as Viktor's breathing hitched.

"Is that all that you desire?" he asked, the steadiness of his voice surprising himself. Viktor's hand was hot in Yuuri's. He didn't want to let go of it. 

"It is... all that a wanderer with nothing to his name would dare to ask."

They were silent for a few minutes. Yuuri didn't know whether the old couple was still around. All he could hear was the distant sound of the feast, the coming and going of the waves and the thud of his heart.

"Perhaps a prince might dare to offer more."

Viktor looked at him with wide eyes.

"But... your kingdom," he stuttered, "Your family... How...?"

"Shhhh." Yuuri pulled Viktor closer by the hand and was surprised when the man fully embraced him, but he found he didn't mind. "Don't worry about that. It's not a problem."

"I have waited for so long," Viktor's words were quiet under Yuuri's ear, sounding like a confession. "I've never imagined this could be possible... I should have come sooner."

Yuuri moved his hands to encircle the other's waist tentatively. 

"You're here now."

Viktor's voice was like a prayer as he said, fervently:

"I am."


End file.
